BNP Paribas Grows Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

BNP Paribas increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,538 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,651 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $13,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hardy Reed LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 4,992 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,465,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 115,002 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $56,788,000 after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,601 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 2.2% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,500,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 6,105 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,015,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $528.48 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $404.32 and a 1-year high of $534.03. The stock has a market cap of $485.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $508.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $474.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MA. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.